A local company offers families an easy way to enrich the earth and reduce their impact on landfills.

Compost House offers home pickup of food waste that is then turned into rich compost. The service is the residential arm of Atlas Organics, which provides food waste composting services to a wide range of commercial operations, including restaurants, schools, Greenville Health System, Spartanburg Regional Health System, Michelin, Milliken and more.

“We’re providing a service to the person that wants to be more intentional, to give back to the community and to the earth,” Leslie Rodgers, Education Director and Compost House Coordinator, said.

In addition to reducing a family’s impact on local landfills, composting reaps a very nice reward in the form of a nutrient-rich compost that enhances the soil, Rodgers said. Compost House customers can elect to receive 10 gallons of finished compost each month or they can donate their share to community gardens and other organizations if they can’t use it at home.

Composting can be a family effort and it has the potential to make a lasting impact on children who participate.

“The awareness becomes so much more apparent when you need to teach a young mind how to be in the world and how to be a good steward,” Rodgers said. “A lot of times people have good intentions, but they don’t exactly know how. When you have a family, you are busy. The research and the time to do something about your waste impact is limited. Our society needs a solution for waste.”

“In my house, I have a countertop container,” Rodgers said. “When I’m not using it, or especially during the summer months, I put that in the fridge or the freezer. When that is full, I empty it into my Compost House bucket.”

Customers can layer food scraps with paper towels or other paper goods, like macaroni and cheese boxes, to reduce the potential for odor. Compost House will either pick up the filled buckets weekly at a customer’s home or they can be dropped off at a designated location (two in Spartanburg and one in Greenville), depending on the service chosen.

Rodgers said customers tell her that composting just requires developing a new habit.

“Customers say it’s easier than they thought,” she said. “They just need to figure out a system that works for them. I make the comparison to recycling all the time. Composting is just the next step in recycling. We’re trying to get everything possible that can be repurposed out of the landfill.”

From collected waste to finished compost, Rodgers said the entire process is handled by the company. In 2017, which was Compost House’s first complete year in business, the company collected 27,272 pounds of waste just from residential customers. Those customers reduced their household waste by 40 to 90 percent.

“We teach our children to consider life, whether it be a bug on the street or our pets,” Rodgers said. “We teach our children to be good stewards of the community. Leading by example is part of that. Once we introduce this idea that we have a responsibility to care for the things around us, they don’t make boundaries.”

Compost House offers two versions of its service, plus a pilot program. Weekly doorstep service, including two five-gallon buckets, is $24 per month. Drop-off service includes one bucket and is ideal for smaller families or individuals. It is $14 per month. The company is piloting a biweekly doorstep service with two buckets at $16 per month. All customers can elect to receive 10 gallons of finished compost each month or donate their compost to community organizations. For details, visit www.composthouse.com. Use the code UPSTATEPARENT for a free trial month.

Want to try it free?

Visit www.composthouse.com to sign up for services from Compost House. Use the code UPSTATEPARENT for a free trial month.